The Legion of Real-Life Supervillains

What if the world's most notorious villains -- real and imagined -- teamed up?

Illustrations by BILY MARIANO DA LUZ | FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Mao Zedong / Darkseid

Da Luz: "One of my first inspirations for the concept of this series was the artist and creator Jack Kirby, who once said, back in the 70s, that he modeled the alien dictator Darkseid on Hitler, and his planet Apokolips on Nazi Germany. But since the very beginning I had a different idea for Adolf. So I thought about Mao because Darkseid has a face that appears to be made of stone -- he almost never changes it. As the chairman also appeared to be a man of only one expression, I chose him."

 

Bily Mariano da Luz ("Butcher Billy") is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Brazil. You can see more of his work here and follow him on Facebook here.